by John Waters

Created on: April 06, 2008   Last Updated: April 22, 2008

Go green! Benefits of reusable bags

I like to be a trend setter so I was one of the first to buy and use the smart new green bags from Tesco, they look great and they tell the world that you know a thing or two about saving the planet. First I bought the king size version @40pence and was astounded when it took half my weekly shop. Only trouble was I couldn't lift it, the store had to help out by giving me two of their smaller bags for free. I like using these bags, they look smart and they stay in shape when fully loaded. They are easy to handle and they stay upright in the back of the car. On the down side I keep forgetting to bring empties with me on shopping trips and end up buying half a dozen more bags every time I shop. I think this problem will go away when my understair storage area becomes full of bags and they spill out into the hallway. Maybe then I'll remember as I trip over the pile on my way to the shops!

Plastic bags are usually made of High or Low Density Polyethylene(HDPE/LDPE) and it takes 1.75kgs of petroleum product to make 1kg of plastic. In the UK alone 17 billion bags a year are used resulting in 60,000 tonnes of plastic going to landfill. Nothing degrades properly in landfill so even paper bags don't completely disappear but the plastic bags will be there for hundreds of years to come. Worst of all the plastic is light and tough and thousands of bags get blown away in the landfill process. They litter the hedgerows and fences around the landfill and find their way into drains and gully's and thence out into the oceans. Turtles , Dolphins, Albatrosses and other wildlife feed on the plastic and eventually starve to death when their stomach is full because the plastic will not pass through their digestive tract. Recycling schemes for plastic bags are virtually non existent so, whether we reuse them as bin liners or just throw them away, they are all going to end up in landfill and exacerbate the environmental problem.

Forget about the frustration of handling plastic bags, the way they all stick together, the struggle to get the things open while a queue of impatient shoppers wait behind you, the triumphant look of the checkout operator as she deftly opens the bag for you with a flick of two fingers, the way the bag sags and rolls and spills everything out again unless you keep hold of it. Buy some of the new stout reusable bags and discover a new way of grocery shopping, have fun and use your brightly colored Tesco bags in Wallmart!(and see if you still get reward points!). Best of all save our dwindling petroleum resource, save manufacturing pollution, save the wildlife and say no to plastic.

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